Outdoor Power Equipment (Lawn Mowers, Snow Blowers, Chain Saws and more) Discussions

I just used my brand new Honda 724ta snowblower for the first time. While working, I pulled a large branch into the auger and instead of shearing a bolt I killed engine. I thought shear bolts were meant to keep that from happening. The machine started right back up and ran fine afterwards but I'm concerned that something could have been damaged. Maybe someone here could put me at ease, or explain to me why the engine died instead of the bolt shearing. Also, I removed the bolt on the blower, not the auger, and it was slightly bent as if it had come close to breaking. Any advise would be appreciated. I realize I'm probably just being paranoid, but this damn machine was not cheap!

I suspect that the branch was a bit "rubbery" - unlike, say, a piece of concrete. It probably shared some of the shock along with the shear bolt, whereas if it was concrete the shear bolt would have obsorbed all of the shock and been broken.

I anti-seized the blower and auger shafts and installed a new shear bolt. The noise is gone and all seems well. All I need to do now is coat the inside of the header and chute with canola oil since I live here in Washington and the snow is always heavy and wet. If I had a little more dough I would have gotten one of the bigger models to deal with it but I found that if I just push the machine a little harder it doesn't plug as much. Thanks for the advice.

You should put a plastic liner in the chute.  I made one for my Simplicity out of one of those kid's Krazy Karpets sold in stores for around $8.00.  It's super slick and durable.